AA exhibits coup attempt photos at Council of Europe

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

STRASBOURG, France

A collection of Anadolu Agency photos on the July 15 coup attempt have been put on display at the Council of Europe.

Speaking at the opening ceremony Wednesday of the exhibition titled “FETO Coup Attempt Through Anadolu Agency's Lens”, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, pointed out that Turkey would not have remained a member of the organization had the coup been successful.

"If the coup [plotters] had succeeded, Turkey could not have kept going on as a member of the Council of Europe," Jagland said in his speech. "Political power cannot come from guns, it must come from the ballot box."

"The military must be loyal to the flag of the state, judges must be loyal to the rule of law and not to anybody outside the law," the secretary general added. "Civil servants have to be loyal to the state, not to anybody outside the state."

"These are basic principles in democracy," he said. "People of Turkey took to the streets to defend their democracy."

Also present at the ceremony, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "To understand what happened on July 15 in Turkey, I advise you to take a look at the photos that are presented."

"To really understand what happened, I also advise you to take a look at the videos. I also suggest you all to come to Turkey to see the real situation and what happened in the aftermath," Cavusoglu said, thanking Anadolu Agency for its work on the exhibition.

The photos taken by Anadolu Agency photojournalists -- who followed the deadly events on the ground -- feature how the destructive night of July 15 unfolded and the aftermath.